Push by English cities for £1 trillion-plus infrastructure investment proves the need for fair funding for Wales, says Jonathan Edwards

More than £1 trillion of investment may be needed in London to meet infrastructure needs, and Plaid argues a system to guarantee Wales a fair slice of taxation must be 'set in stone'

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Wales needs a cast-iron scheme to ensure to ensure the nation gets a fair slice of infrastructure funding, Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards has warned as a major rail expansion around London is considered.

Transport Secretary Patrick McCloughlin has announced that an extension of the multi-billion pound Crossrail project to Hertfordshire is being investigated. This comes as Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are pressing for £15bn in transport investment.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said that London’s population is due to increase by 37% by 2050 and infrastructure improvements worth £1.3 trillion may be needed.

These calls for investment come as talks continue between the UK and Welsh governments about how the Valley Lines can be electrified. The Great Western line is scheduled for electrification but there is growing pressure for the North Wales main line to be upgraded.

Mr Edwards used a speech this week at the Eisteddfod to argue that the Welsh Government should receive £2bn-£4bn as a result of investment in the High-Speed 2 rail network, which he argues is an England-only project. He wants to see transfers of Treasury cash, known as “consequentials”, to be made to the Welsh Government if a project is considered to primarily benefit England.

Mr Edwards said: “If they are being funded by public money that means it’s being funded from general taxation which includes Welsh taxation. For the very centralised funding mechanisms of the British state to work, it has to lead to fair funding for Wales.

“We’re talking here about billions and billions of pounds... We need to win a political argument between now and then which sets in stone that when you have an England-only infrastructure development funded through public money then that leads to fair funding for Wales automatically. The Treasury can’t get away with their old trick of labelling England-only infrastructure projects UK-wide projects... That’s the real, big political fight that has to be won in the next few years.”

In response to Mr Edwards’ speech, the UK Government insisted HS2 would benefit the whole country, stating: “HS2 is a vital part of our long-term economic plan for the whole country, providing the vital capacity the UK needs to compete in the global race. It will deliver significant benefits to passengers in Wales through enhanced connectivity with the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common Interchange.

“Passengers from central Wales who would normally travel to London via Birmingham will also benefit from the 41min reduction in journey times on that leg of the journey.”

He said: “Electrification only takes us up to where everybody else is now. They electrified the railway up to Glasgow in the 1970s and we’re still fighting for electrifying the railways in Wales.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are involved in ongoing discussions with the UK government regarding rail electrification in Wales.”

A spokeswoman added: “We always work to ensure that Wales receives the consequentials to which it is entitled under the Barnett formula – as we did with previous Crossrail announcements and HS2. However, we have long been of the view that the Barnett Formula itself does Wales no favours and we are pushing the UK Government for reform of the Formula, particularly in the context of devolution of tax powers to Wales.”